Full ‘Wicked’ Cast Announced For Return Engagement In Bradford

Photo by Matt Crockett

WICKED, “one of the most successful musicals of all time” (BBC News), will fly back to the Alhambra Theatre, Bradford from Tuesday 16 April to Sunday 19 May 2024 and producers today announce the full cast, including Leeds-born actor Jed Berry as ‘Boq’. He joins the UK and Ireland 2023–2025 touring cast alongside recently announced Wakefield-born West End ‘Elphaba’, Laura Pick.

Tickets are on sale now at www.bradford-theatres.co.uk

Jed Berry (Boq) was born in Leeds and trained at the Guildford School of Acting. He made his West End debut in Kinky Boots (going on to star in the feature film) and can currently be seen in The Book of Mormon at the Prince of Wales having toured the show internationally and across the UK. Other theatre credits include The Sound of Music and A Doll’s House. On screen, he has appeared in ITV’s The Royal and The Royal Today.

Jed Berry joins Wicked West End stars Laura Pick (Elphaba), Sarah O’Connor (Glinda), Carl Man (Fiyero), and Simeon Truby (The Wizard and Doctor Dillamond) together with Donna Berlin (Madame Morrible), Megan Gardiner (Nessarose) and Casey Al-Shaqsy (Standby for Elphaba).

Jed Berry (Boq) said “It’s rare that a show of this scale and magnitude comes to Yorkshire so I’m over the moon to be returning to my home county with Wicked. I fell madly in love with the show at a young age and would frequently drag my mum on day trips to see the West End production and would fantasise about being part of it one day.

Our engagement in Bradford is even more exciting as I get to share the stage with the phenomenal Laura Pick, who grew up performing in the same local companies I did — Leeds Amateur Operatic Society and Theatre Royal Wakefield — so it’s a real full circle moment for us both.”

The cast is confirmed as Laura Pick (Elphaba), Sarah O’Connor (Glinda), Carl Man (Fiyero), Donna Berlin (Madame Morrible), Simeon Truby (The Wizard and Doctor Dillamond), Jed Berry (Boq), Megan Gardiner (Nessarose), Casey Al-Shaqsy (Standby for Elphaba), Thomas Charles, Julie Cloke, Charlotte Coggin, Freddie Conway, Áine Curran, Jade Davies, Kamau Davis, Russell Dickson, Maddison Firth, Lydia Gerrard, James Gower-Smith, Shoko Ito, Holly Lawrence, Nick Len, Stephanie Lindo, Will Lucas, Will Luckett, Rozz Mbwembwe, Georgia McElwee, Conor O’Hara, Shereen Osman, Stuart Rouse, Christina Shand, Adam Stickler, and Frazer Woolcott.

Laura Pick (Elphaba), Carl Man (Fiyero), Simeon Truby (The Wizard and Doctor Dillamond), Nick Len, and Will Lucas have all previously appeared in the West End production of Wicked.

The spectacular, multi-record-breaking, and critically acclaimed touring production of the must-see musical phenomenon returns to Bradford’s Alhambra Theatre for a second engagement, following a celebrated season in 2016.

The West End and Broadway musical, that tells the incredible untold story of the Witches of Oz, continues an open-ended run at London’s Apollo Victoria Theatre where it is now flying into its landmark 18th year.

Wicked Executive Producer Michael McCabe said: “As we prepare for a much anticipated second visit to Bradford’s Alhambra Theatre, we’re delighted to announce a truly stellar cast of 33, led by Laura Pick and Sarah O’Connor as Elphaba and Glinda, who form part of the 100+ company that will be delivering all the spectacle and magic of this gigantic production on stage and behind the scenes.”

Stephen Schwartz and Winnie Holzman’s musical, based on the novel by Gregory Maguire, imagines a beguiling backstory and future possibilities to the lives of L. Frank Baum's beloved characters from ‘The Wonderful Wizard of Oz’, revealing the decisions and events that shape the destinies of two unlikely university friends on their journey to becoming ‘Glinda The Good’ and the ‘Wicked Witch of the West’.

Wicked has now been seen by 65 million people worldwide, and 2023 marks the 20th Anniversary of its Broadway premiere. Productions continue on Broadway, in the West End, and on tour across North America. This year, Wicked also returns to Sydney, Australia and Tokyo, Japan. The two-part Universal Pictures film version of Wicked, directed by Jon M. Chu and starring Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande, is in production.

Wicked has won over 100 awards including three Tony Awards; six Drama Desk Awards; two Olivier Awards; eleven WhatsOnStage Awards; six Australian Helpmann Awards, and a Grammy.

Wicked features songs by multi-Oscar and Grammy Award winner Stephen Schwartz (Godspell, Pippin, The Prince of Egypt, Disney's Pocahontas, The Hunchback of Notre Dame and Enchanted). It is based on the multimillion-copy best-selling novel ‘Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West’ by Gregory Maguire and written by Emmy and Tony Award nominee Winnie Holzman (creator of the landmark American television series My So-Called Life). Musical staging is by Tony Award-winner Wayne Cilento with direction by two-time Tony Award-winner Joe Mantello.

Wicked is produced by Marc Platt, Universal Stage Productions, The Araca Group, Jon B. Platt, and David Stone. Executive Producer (UK & Ireland) Michael McCabe.